European stocks rally, German DAX hits all-time high

European stocks rose in early trading on Thursday, and resumed gains after taking a breather yesterday on profit-taking, and rose once again near a 13-month high, after the Federal Reserve affirmed yesterday not raising the interest rates until 2023, and the German DAX index jump to its all-time high after record gains in Wall Street.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.4% as of 10:48 GMT, after closing lower by 0.45% yesterday, on profit-taking from the highest level since February 2020 at 427 points.

The banking sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, with a jump of more than 1.5%, as most of the major European banks' stocks rebounded.

The Federal Reserve signaled on Wednesday that it will not be raised until 2024, and the bank chairman Jerome Powell stressed that the Fed wants to see inflation higher than the target, in addition to improvement in the labor market, before considering any action. 

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.5%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.25%, and the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.1%, while Germany's DAX index rose 1.2% and hit its all-time high of 14,780.2 points.

S&P 500 futures fell more than 0.3%, ahead of Wall Street opening after the index closed higher by 0.3% yesterday and posted a new record high at 3,983.87 points.